Databases of information are commonly organized as nested directories where information that is related is grouped together in a nested fashion. These nested directories can sometimes contain many levels so that an individual piece of information may be categorized by a multiplicity of levels of directory organization.
These organizational structures are commonly used in file systems in data processing environments. For example, in an engineering data management or a computer aided design (CAD) system the components of an assembly can be organized in a nested bill of materials. For example, a particular fastener may be associated with a particular bracket, which may be associated with a particular assembly on a particular portion of a larger machine. Each of these levels of abstraction may be associated with a directory level within the organized bill of materials.
Engineering data management systems, CAD systems and other file systems typically allow a user to perform searches through the data components organized in the file structure. The results of these searches can return a simple list of the components to the user. However, it is sometimes advantageous to show the user where in the data hierarchy the components reside. Unfortunately, due to the many levels of organization, the display of these results is very difficult. For example, if two components are identified by a particular search, but these components are not within the same subassembly, it is difficult to display the entire hierarchy associated with the two components because of the need to display the multiplicity of directory layers associated with each component.